Man shot on N train arriving at Canal Street station, NYPD searching for suspect

NEW YORK — Police are searching for suspect Saturday after a man was shot on a subway in Lower Manhattan. It happened at around 1 a.m. on a southbound N train arriving at Canal Street. 

“We all ran to the corner, just praying that we were going to be safe,” one rider said. 

It was pandemonium.

According to police, a 34-year-old man was shot in the torso after arguing with another rider as the train pulled into the station. 

“I thought I was going to die. I didn’t think this would ever happen to me, and now it happened. We’ve seen this on TV, and now it’s happening to anybody and anyone,” a rider said. 

The shooting happened less than 24 hours after Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul touted major improvements to subway safety, mainly a report that found a 16 percent drop in subway crimes since October 2022. 

“I can’t tell New Yorkers they should feel safe. I’m not going to even do that. But the data is showing that New Yorkers are telling us they feel safer and that’s what I’m going to pay attention to,” said Hochul at the Friday news conference. 

Hochul attributed the reduction in crime to the addition of 1,200 police officers on subways since the fall. Since then, arrests are up 63 percent, while summonses for fare evasion rose by 170 percent. 

Some riders said they have noticed a difference. 

“I’ve noticed just this week since we got back into town, I’ve noticed more police in the subway system,” said Berny Montilla, from Manhattan.

Transportation advocates said it’s too early to celebrate. 

“Tell that to the families of the 11 victims who were killed that the subway is safe,” said Charlton D’souza, president and founder of Passengers United. “And the first victim who died this year won’t be coming home to his family.” 

D’souza said more mental health resources are needed now. The city said it’s working with hospitals to open more beds for those patients within the next month. 

“We need to get these individuals who are off their medications treatment right away. But we also need to have police at every subway station on two tours and like I’ve been saying, bring in the National Guard,” said D’souza. 

Police described the Saturday morning shooting suspect as a man in his 30s, who was possibly wearing a denim jacket. 

Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.